The invention relates to an ankle support structure comprising a generally U-shaped bow consisting of a thin rigid material, the yoke of the U-shaped bow forming a bottom wall for the foot of a human and the pair of legs of the U-shaped bow contacting the calf of the human's leg at opposite sides thereof and extending upwards beyond the ankle.
An ankle support structure of this kind is known from DE-Patent Publication No. 34 35 955. The U-shaped bow is made of thermoplastic material and can be shaped to the contour of the human's leg by heat treatment. A binding tape must be wrapped around the vertical legs of the bow to fasten the support structure at the human's leg. This ankle support indeed can be used by individuals, particularly athletes have weak ankles to avoid injuries and by patients who, some weeks after an operation have removed the usual plaster cast. However, this support cannot replace such a cast immediately after an operation of the ankle, because the upstanding legs can move with respect to one another, and to the leg of a human i.e., the legs of the U-shaped bow can be bent and distorted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,311 shows an ankle support structure made of cloth fabric layers comprising an inner, ankle enveloping layer of a resilient material and an outer, non-resilient but flexible layer secured to the outside surface of the inner layer. The inner layer can be snugly wrapped completely around the upper part of the ankle and secured there. Straps are provided to be wrapped around the foot and fastened at the sides of structure to form a stirrup-like support. While this proposal can be used in the same case as the known structure mentioned at the beginning also the drawbacks are the same.